00:00Some Malian firefighters, who also double up as refugees, are giving back to their communities in Mauritania.
00:07Over more than a decade, firefighting bushfires, they have perfected the technique of cracking wood against the dry grasslands.
00:15In this region of West Africa, bushfires are deadly. They can break out in the blink of an eye and last for days.
00:22Firefighting has now become a livelihood for most of these refugees.
00:26We must adapt. We cannot go into exile. We cannot go to Europe, abandon our homes.
00:33So we must resist. We must fight. We must face these changes to our climate in order to adapt and be able to stay at home.
00:41For the refugee firefighters, battling the blaze is a way of giving back to the local community,
00:47which took them in when they fled violence and instability at home in Mali.
00:52Upon arriving, firefighting was one of the avenues or places that they found refuge.
00:58When there was not so many people, when there was water is available, the food is available for animals,
01:07the situation was much more simple.
01:11But with the climate change, even the Mauritanians cannot find enough for their own animals.
01:17And that's where even a single bushfire becomes a life-threatening to their resilience,
01:27to their well-being of refugees in those communities.
01:31The volunteers today count over 360 refugees who work with the local Mauritanian authorities and firefighters.
01:38When a bushfire breaks out and the alert comes in, the firefighters jump into their pickup trucks and drive out.
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